NCAA March Madness – W2A Management Bracket

NCAA March Madness – W2A Management Bracket

It is that time of the year again! The NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Tournament is upon us. Get ready and buckle up! Because these next three weeks are going to be filled with of entertainment.

How Does It Work?

There are 351 men’s basketball teams that compete at the NCAA Division I level. Each team competes in a certain conference. Once the regular season of each conference is over, the teams compete in their conference tournament.

After all conference tournaments are done, a selection committee is responsible for picking 68 teams to compete in the NCAA Tournament from those 32 conferences.

You win, you advance. You lose, you go home. The winner of the NCAA Tournament is considered to be the “national champion.”

Selection Process

32 teams are automatically invited to the NCAA Tournament

These 32 teams automatically qualify by winning their conference tournament

The beauty about the conference tournament is anyone has a chance. For example, if a team finishes in last place in their conference during the regular season, but wins the conference tournament, they automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament

The other 36 teams the committee selects receive “at-large”

An “at-large” bid is determined by several metrics

The most common metric is the Rating Percentage Index (RPI)

The RPI is a number given to a team based on their wins/losses and its strength of schedule

The committee then takes into factor a team’s wins’ vs the Top 50

Losing against “bad teams” never helps a team’s case to make the NCAA Tournament

The better wins a team has, the better off they will be before the selection show

Format

There are “play-in” games in the East, Midwest, and South regions: So technically, there is more than 16 teams in these regions

Two “play-in” games are compromised of the four lowest seeds: The 4 lowest seeds are 16 seeds

The other two “play-in” games are of the “Last 4 In”

The “Last 4 In” are the last “at-large” teams the committee select to be in the tournament

The “Last 4 In” are 11 seeds

After the “play-in” games are complete, the First Round begins

Rounds

First Round

1 seed vs 16 seed

2 seed vs 15 seed

3 seed vs 14 seed

4 seed vs 13 seed

5 seed vs 12 seed

6 seed vs 11 seed

7 seed vs 10 seed

8 seed vs 9 seed

Round of 32

The winner of the 1/16 game plays the winner of the 8/9 game

The winner of 2/15 game plays the winner of 7/10 game

The winner of 3/14 game plays the winner of the 6/11 game

The winner 4/5 game plays the winner of 5/12 game

Sweet 16

The winners of the games played in the Round of 32 play in the Sweet 16

16 teams participate in this round

Elite 8

The winners of the games played in the Sweet 16 play in the Elite 8

8 teams participate in this round

Final 4

The winners of the games played in the Elite 8 play in the Final 4

4 teams participate in the round

National Championship

The winners of the games played in the Final 4 play for the National Championship

The 2 remaining teams play for the championship

Must See Games in The First Round

East Region

4 Florida vs 13 East Tennessee State

8 Wisconsin vs 9 Virginia Tech

West Region

3 Florida State vs 14 Florida Gulf Coast

7 St. Mary’s vs 10 VCU

Midwest Region

8 Miami vs 9 Michigan State

5 Iowa State vs 12 Nevada

6 Creighton vs 11 Rhode Island

South Region

5 Minnesota vs 12 Middle Tennessee State

7 Dayton vs 10 Wichita State

Who Wins it all?

Duke

Duke has had a bit of an up and down season. However, after winning four games in four days and claiming the ACC Tournament title, the Blue Devils are as hot as any other team in the country. It seems like Coach K’s team are started to gel at the right time. .